46. Malic #3
A warmth unfurls inside my chest at the feel of her in my arms. The way her nose brushes against my chest and how much she melts into me.
An unfamiliar warmth blossoms through my entire body until sweat drips from my brow.
What is this feeling? I have no clue, but I want to bottle it up and keep it forever.
Because for the first time in a long time, the fog has lifted from my brain and I’m thinking somewhat rationally. Not all the way, of course.
“Why you’ve been hiding from me in plain sight,” I grumble as her eyes close completely, and she’s out. Whether the sleeping medicine is already taking effect or exhaustion is winning, I’ll take whatever I can get. “Goodnight, Olivia,” I whisper, kissing her temple softly.
As I walk into my bedroom, I note the quietness seeping from Wilder’s side of the hallway.
He’s either sulking in his room or he’s passed out from finally coming after so long of being backed up.
Honestly, I don’t remember the last time my keeper came inside someone else.
Well, there was that time I witnessed him in the shower, but that was with the poor hand he’s been using for way too long.
But whatever. I’m always happy to help loosen him up and share my little ghost with him.
Setting Olivia into my bed, I gently run a finger through her messy, short strands and over her face.
“Now, we can’t have you falling asleep with all that makeup on, Crumpet. It’ll clog your pores.” Besides, I want to see the real her. My Olivia. The facade beneath the caked-on makeup someone used to hide her away from the world.
Walking into the bathroom, I grab a warm washcloth and come back into the bedroom. For a second, I pause, watching the breath enter her lungs and expand her chest.
“This is where you should have been all along,” I mutter softly as I kneel down and wipe the makeup from her face, revealing her marred skin beneath.
It’s a thing of beauty, though. A badge of honor worn by a woman who has endured more than anyone could think possible.
“You’ve come back to me finally. I won’t let anyone else hurt you.
Not even those fuckwits who think they have a claim on you.
Or will… How many people know you’re Olivia Viotto?
” I mumble as I wipe away more makeup on her right cheek.
“Only JJ,” she mutters in her sleep. Oh, goody.
He’ll be a problem later. Or possibly an asset to my cause.
Not that he’d willfully join me in my crusade against whoever killed Meredith.
But I’m sure my crumpet could help convince him.
“No one else.” She shifts in her sleep, moving away from my stalled hand dangling above her face.
Another snore seeps from between her lips, and she settles once more.
“Well, maybe I should have drugged you more ages ago, Crumpet. Then I could have gotten all the answers I needed,” I whisper, leaning down to kiss her cheek, pausing there for longer than necessary. I never want this night to end. “Why did you want to find me tonight?”
“Glasses,” she stammers in her sleep. “I need them…” Her words trail off into another snore.
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” I whisper. “But for now, I need you to keep sleeping. I have one more trick up my sleeve. You may have been seeking me out, but I was hunting you, too.”
I grin as I pull out a discreet tracker and its setting tool from my bedside table, hidden beneath a false bottom.
Can’t have my keeper finding my goodies.
I momentarily pause when the picture of her and me sits there staring back at me from the bottom of the drawer, and I pull it out with my free hand.
“Do you remember the night we met?”
No answer. Nothing but snores and heavy breaths. I guess that’s for the better. Who would want to reminisce about the boy she met once when she was fifteen and under duress?
“The night we met was the best day of my life, Crumpet. The day I crawled out of a cage my mother made. Perhaps she’s the reason I’m this way.
Twisted as fuck. It was the day I spread my wings and tasted freedom for the first time.
Then, I saw your face and knew I had so much to live for because you hugged me.
You saw me. The real me, despite my flaws,” I whisper, looking at the small face in the photo.
“Many people think they have me and my alliances figured out. Wilder. Boss man. But you, Olivia Viotto, were the only person I truly pledged myself to.”
Putting the picture into the drawer, I hold up the small invisible tracker I bought from CC Tech and grin.
“And now that I have you here, I’m pledging myself in a whole new way, by keeping you in my sights.
Forever. You can’t throw this one out the window or disable it.
In fact,” I grunt, setting the device in the back of her neck and pulling the small trigger until it settles beneath her skin without a trace of blood.
“You won’t even feel it’s there or that I did this.
” Pulling the setting device back, I admire my handy work and run my finger over the discreet tracker at the back of her neck, feeling nothing there.
“Perfect,” I joyfully say, jumping to my feet and hiding it again.
Olivia continues to slumber as I crawl into bed beside her, running my finger through the short strands of her dark hair.
“Good night, Olivia,” I say, kissing the tip of her nose. “Don’t hate me in the morning.”